The Senate Health Care Vote, Simplified

The Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to advance health care legislation to the Senate floor. That would open up debate on an Obamacare repeal and/or replacement plan.

The importance of the vote was highlighted by Sen. John McCain’s decision to return to Washington to take part. He announced last week that he had been diagnosed with brain cancer.

At a White House event Monday, President Trump highlighted what he called the “failures” of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, and called on senators to pass a bill that both repeals and replaces the ACA. Last week, Trump urged an approach that would repeal the law over two years, giving lawmakers more time to craft new health care legislation. Several days later at a lunch with lawmakers, he advocated repeal and replace.

But it’s still not clear what the Senate will be voting on. There are multiple bills in play.

The Senate hopes it can muster the 51 votes needed to pass a bill, but some Republicans are wavering, both in the center and on the right.

NPR’s health and politics teams have been doing our best to shed some light on what’s a very confusing situation, even by health policy standards.

What are they voting on?

There are at least four bills that could advance to the Senate floor. Here’s our summary, with a chart comparing House and Senate bills to the Affordable Care Act, and links to stories that dive into the implications of the legislation.